Area Attractions

Amherst

The Museum's collections reflect the historical journey of scientific inquiry at Amherst College. They are derived from expeditions, donations and exchanges, and have been acquired throughout the past 180 years of Amherst College.

The Mead Art Museum holds the art collection of Amherst College, a collection of over 16,000 objects. The Museum features regularly changing installations and special exhibitions spanning a wide range of historical periods, national schools, and artistic media.

Ashley Falls

The Ashley House was the center of social, economic, and political life in Western Massachusetts in the eighteenth century. The famous Sheffield Resolves, a petition against British tyranny and a manifesto for individual rights, was drafted in the upstairs study of the house and published in 1773. The cause for abolishing slavery in America was strengthened in the celebrated 1781 Massachusetts state court battle that freed the Ashleys' slave, Elizabeth Freeman, under the new state constitution.

Chester

Chester-Blandford State Forest offers a rustic park experience. Explore trails and places with names like Mica Mine Road and Gold Mine Brook that recall the days when the hills of Chester were pitted with small mines producing mica, emery and corundum. Camping (first-come, first served) is available on 12 wooded sites.

The majestic Keystone Arches are a collection of five dry-laid stone masonry railroad bridges and one bridge ruin. The Keystone Arch Bridges Trail offers a moderate 5-mile round trip walk for all ages. There are some extreme drop-offs, and the ancillary trails down to the river at each bridge can add some mileage.

Probably the most dramatic natural feature in the 2,308 acre Chester - Blandford State Forest, Sanderson Brook Falls plunges nearly 75 feet into a deep pool. A 20-minute road walk leads to the falls, with a slight climb at the end.

Chesterfield

Visitors to Chesterfield Gorge will enjoy a half-mile trail along cliff tops that offer views of the seventy-foot-high walls of the gorge, the Westfield River, and the surrounding forest, home to bears, bobcats, and turkeys. Stone abutments of a ca.1770 bridge that spanned the river are all that remain of former post road between Boston and Albany, NY. Chesterfield Gorge is also the entrance to an extensive natural recreation area along the Westfield River that features catch-and-release fly-fishing and access to a mountain bike corridor.

Cummington

The boyhood home of one of America's foremost 19th-century poets. The Bryant Homestead overflows with family furnishings and memorabilia of William Cullen Bryant's life as a poet, traveler, and editor of the New York Evening Post.

Deerfield

Historic Deerfield, Inc., is dedicated to the heritage and preservation of Deerfield, Massachusetts and the Connecticut River Valley. Its museums and programs provide today’s audiences with experiences that create an understanding and appreciation of New England’s historic villages and countryside.

Three miles of trails, some steep, lead hikers up and over the 1,735 foot top of Squaw Peak, looking out over southern Berkshire County. Sheer cliff faces drop over 100 feet to a talus slope full of pale quartzite blocks and scree.

Hancock

This beautifully restored village, set among acres of farm, woodland and pasture, is home to the premier collection of Shaker buildings and artifacts. Graceful Shaker furniture, craft and household items are exhibited in 20 historic buildings, each an architectural gem. The Round Stone Barn, most famous of all Shaker buildings, is a testament to Shaker efficiency, innovation and design.

Holyoke

The Children's Museum at Holyoke provides a unique setting in which children and adults learn together about art, science and the world around them. Through hands-on exhibits, children challenge themselves, discover how the world works, explore new roles for themselves, and learn by doing.

Wistariahurst Museum was originally the home of prominent silk manufacturer William Skinner and his family. The museum features original leather wall coverings, columns, elaborate woodwork, and a permanent collection of decorative arts, paintings and prints, textiles and a rich manuscript collection of family and local papers.

Huntington

C. M. Gardner State Park is located in the rolling Berkshire foothills along a scenic section of the Westfield River East Branch. In summer the sunlit mountain river is a delightful spot to relax. A wooded picnic area is available on the banks of the river. Camping is available nearby at Chester-Blandford State Forest.

1.2-mile walking trail winding through a wooded landscape studded with hundreds of large boulders covered in mosses, ferns and lichens. The trail passes a very early cellar hole and maple sugarhouse ruin, climbs up and down steep slopes, and crosses a moist stream valley in three places. Expect lots of early spring wildflowers and a great variety of ferns, and look for signs of moose, deer, bear, coyote, and porcupine.

Lenox

The Mount was the home of Pulitzer-prize winning author Edith Wharton, who designed the house and gardens with the same intelligence and sensitivity that distinguishes her writing. Wharton created her gardens as architectural compositions, divided into rooms, and planned in concert with the house and surrounding natural landscape.

Launching its 31st season in the culturally-rich Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts in Lenox, Shakespeare & Company aspires to create a theatre of unprecedented excellence rooted in the classical ideals of inquiry, balance, and harmony. With a core of over 150 artists, the company performs Shakespeare, generating opportunities for collaboration between actors, directors, and designers of all races, nationalities, and backgrounds.

Mt. Washington

One of the most fantastic natural features in Massachusetts. Bash Bish Brook tumbles in a series of falls through a steep gorge whose walls tower in some places well over 100 feet. The final cascade drops 80 feet into a crystal clear pool. These falls freeze into a wonderful icy blue flows with the water thundering down behind.

Amidst the re-grown red oak-northern hardwood forest, the 4,169 acre Mount Washington State Forest offers 30 miles of trails over rugged terrain and wilderness camping. Hike the South Taconic Trail to the 2,250 ft. elev. summit of Alander Mountain for amazing views. Or follow the Appalachian Trail as it winds its way along the ridgeline and through Sage's Ravine. Springtime features include blooming mountain laurel and azalea; and in summer, a carpet of ferns.

North Adams

MASS MoCA exhibits work by many of the most important artists of today--both well known, and emerging--focusing on large-scale and complex installations that are impossible to realize in conventional museums. Broad, soaring galleries with 110,000 square feet of open, flexible space for both exhibitions and performances.

Northampton

The Botanic Garden includes thousands of plants, grown under glass in the Lyman Conservatory and in outdoor gardens. A collection of dried plants comprising some 60,000 pressed specimens is available for research in the Herbarium. Botanic Garden activities and collections include not only plants but also books and other resource materials, an international seed exchange, research and conservation, and diverse events.

The Norwottock Rail Trail is an 11-mile path linking Northampton, Hadley, and Amherst along the former Boston & Main Railroad right-of-way. The path's level terrain provides safe passage for pedestrians, wheelchairs, joggers, skaters, bicyclists, and cross-country skiers of all ages and abilities.

The Words and Pictures Museum, a private non-profit organization, is dedicated to the collection, preservation, study, interpretation and presentation of fine graphic narrative and fantasy illustration.

Home of Herman Melville from 1850-1863. It was at Arrowhead that Melville wrote his most famous work, Moby-Dick, along with three other novels, a collection of short stories, all of his magazine stories, and some of his poetry. Arrowhead is now a house museum interpreting the life of the Melville family in the Berkshires.

Sheffield

Bartholomew's Cobble is home to one of North America's greatest diversities of fern species and their allies, as well as abundant woodland wildflowers. The Reservation is named for its two rocky knolls that rise above the Housatonic River. These cobbles consist mostly of limestone and marble, whose alkaline soil supports an unusual array of flora. Away from the cobbles, the landscape changes to open fields dotted with red cedars and then to forest. Freshwater marshes and beaver ponds are home to many types of plants and animals.

The Society's collection is housed in seven historic structures, and includes period furniture, accessories, textiles, ceramics, tools, toys, ephemera and an extensive collection of primary and secondary research sources.

Mt. Sugarloaf offers a commanding view of the Connecticut River, the Pioneer Valley, and the Pelham and Berkshire Hills. Consisting of two peaks, North and South Sugarloaf, the Reservation offers picnicking, scenic viewing and hiking. An auto road winds to the summit, making South Sugarloaf Mountain accessible by private automobiles.

Springfield

The history and traditions of Springfield and the Connecticut River Valley since 1636 are told in exhibits of handcrafted furniture and silver by local craftsmen, motorcycles and antique autos made in Springfield, industrial objects from the region's factories, and historical firearms from the area's gun industry, including selected revolvers from a premier Smith & Wesson collection. The museum celebrates many of the area's famous people, including Springfield native Theodore “Dr. Seuss” Geisel.

The Michele & Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts was erected in response to a bequest from Mr. & Mrs. James Philip Gray, who left their entire estate for the “selection, purchase, preservation, and exhibition of the most valuable, meritorious, artistic, and high class oil paintings obtainable.” Exhibits include American and European paintings, works on paper, sculpture and more.

The George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum is one of the two Springfield Museums dedicated to fine and decorative arts. It represents the personal taste and Victorian aesthetic of the collector whose name it bears. Exhibits include Japanese arms and armor, Asian decorative arts, Middle Eastern textiles and more.

At the Basketball Hall of Fame, all levels of the game are represented under one roof. From Dr. James Naismith's invention of basketball in 1891 to the modern game, the mission of the Basketball Hall of Fame is to provide visitors with with the finest experience possible.

The mission of the Forest Park Zoological Society is to promote public awareness and appreciation for indigenous and exotic animals, and to provide educational programming for all ages that encourages understanding and respect for the natural environment. The animal collections and gardens enhance perception of the natural world, and emphasize the importance of bio-diversity.

Stockbridge

Nestled in the scenic Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts, the Berkshire Botanical Garden offers visitors a peaceful refuge of natural beauty, stunning display gardens, exciting community events, and informative classes for all ages and levels of skill and knowledge.

Chesterwood is the country home, studio and gardens of Daniel Chester French, sculptor of the statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Memorial in Washington, DC. The buildings are furnished with American and European decorative arts and paintings collected by the sculptor. Woodland walks featuring mountain vistas and perennial gardens are French's own design.

Enjoy a cool summer walk in the Ice Glen among tumbled boulders, crevices, and ferns on stone steps, where ice lingers all summer long. Then ascend to Laura's Tower on smooth, wide trails, and enjoy fantastic views. Finally, cap off a wonderful day on the Mary V. Flynn Trail, a paved gravel and boardwalk stroll along the Housatonic River. Trailhead is at the parking lot at the end of Park Street.

This National Historic Landmark was disassembled, moved, and restored at its present location on Main Street between 1926 and 1927. The house contains an outstanding collection of eighteenth-century American furniture and decorative arts. A Colonial Revival garden designed by noted landscape architect Fletcher Steele features a dooryard garden of circular brick paths enclosed by a tidewater cypress fence, and a kitchen garden divided by graveled walkways.

Naumkeag, perched above the village of Stockbridge, was the summer estate of the Choate family. Designed by McKim, Mead & White in 1885, this 44-room, shingle-style house is filled with original furniture, ceramics, and artwork collected from America, Europe, and the Far East. Eight acres of terraced gardens and landscaped grounds are surrounded by forty acres of woodland, meadow, and pasture that stretch to the Housatonic River Valley.

The Norman Rockwell Museum is dedicated to education and art appreciation inspired by the legacy of Norman Rockwell. The museum preserves, studies and communicates with a worldwide audience the life, art and spirit of Norman Rockwell in the field of illustration.

Tyringham

A two-mile loop trail runs to the summit of Cobble Hill, 400 feet above the valley floor. Several rock outcrops offer sweeping views of Tyringham Valley with Hop Brook and the village below. The cobble features wildflowers and other woodland life.

Santarella Estate is the historic home and studio of the sculptor, Sir Henry Hudson Kitson. Kitson's studio, affectionately known as the "Gingerbread House", gets its name from the storybook-style architecture and incredible "rolling" roof. The design and construction of this building was the last major project of Kitson's life, and continued for over 20 years.

Established in 1949 by Frank Stanley Beveridge, founder of Stanley Home Products of Westfield, Stanley Park features nearly 300 acres of formal gardens, as well as a carillon tower, trails, sports fields and a substantial nature area.

Williamstown

In 1950 Sterling and Francine Clark chartered the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute as a home for their extensive art collection. Opened to public in 1955, the Institute has built upon this extraordinary group of works to become one of the most beloved and respected art museums in the world, known for its intimate galleries and stunning natural environment.

One of the finest college art museums in the country, the Williams College Museum of Art houses 13,000 works that span the history of art. The collection emphasizes modern and contemporary art, American art from the late 18th century to the present, and the art of world cultures.

Nestled in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts, the Williamstown Theatre Festival brings together a vast array of artists and offers audiences varied cultural experiences. Every summer, WTF presents classic and new plays on its Main, Nikos and Center Stages, Free Theatre, Late-Night Cabaret, and readings, workshops, and other special events.

Windsor

Notchview Reservation, a 3,100- acre property of The Trustees of Reservations, offers spectacular cross-country skiing on 27 km of forested trails. Located 2,100 feet above sea level, Notchview is well known for its early snow and extended season. The wooded trails protect skiers from the harsh winds normally experienced by high-elevation skiers in the Berkshire Hills.